HELP!! Raccoon in my trap, should I release it or kill it???

[Lbrad7]

Never release a coon!!! If you get the chance take it out!!!

 

[GAchick]

Quote:
It may seem like torture from your persepective however I consider my birds....the coon will torture them before he kills them. Skunks get drowned by me ocassionally, I am not getting sprayed by one just to kill it nicely. I have little heart for predators of the chicken killing kind.


OP - dispath it or have DH kill it for you. Keep the trap set too.

I respect your right to have your own opinion. I just happen to disagree with that opinion. I am not a skunk or a raccoon, and I refuse to get down to their level. In MY Opinion, drowning is torture, and inhumane. However, I respect your right to deal with threats to your property as you see fit.

 

[puredelite]

Take him out! Chances are it will eventually have a chicken dinner if you don't. This past winter 2 'coons got into my storm damaged coop and killed over a dozen of my hens and roos. Fortunately 1 roo and 2 hens escaped or I would have lost my Americana bloodline that I have had for over 10 yrs. I did catch the culprits when they returned and altho they were doing what just comes natural to them I returned the favor and did what comes natural to me - protect my critters! Don't like to shoot inmy trap as the blood scent is hard to remove, drown or the old car exhaust trick. Bes to you!

 

[mommyofthree]

We set the trap again last night and caught raccoon number 2!! We'll keep setting the trap for awhile until the buggers stay out of my garden! And we had some sort of thief over last night, I wonder if it was another raccoon. Something stole my cat's litter box scooper that was sitting outside. lol

 

[Ibicella]

Quote:
I have the same exact problem. The movie "Sphere" scared the crap out of me because it combined my three biggest fears: Deep water, jellyfish, and giant squid.

 

[drumstick diva]

Now I am going to wonder about The Great stolen cat scooper caper, I hope it isn't a serial thief. lol

 

[RedRoosterFarm]

shoot them in the head.

 

[Jarvis30]

I used the mangled body parts of my chickens for the bait in the trap so the justification for killing the raccoon is right there next to it when I do it. I use a 10-22 and have done clean single shot kills but . I drown to unconsciousness when i was a child and passed out a few times from asthma on the race to the hospital and both were about the same, it wasn't that bad, you suffocate, you don't really choke on the water. Maybe animals are different, who know but i'm split on the shooting or drowning but i'm better on the head shot now.

On a side note, don't close your eyes when you pull the trigger. I was an Air Force Fire Fighter at a crash scene at Shaw AFB and a large pig was down with a major laceration and burns but still alive. An Office of special investigations (OSI) looser was going to dispatch the animal. First shot I saw a piece of the pigs ear come off. I looked at the guy as he shot again and he was closing his eyes when he pulled the trigger. the second shot hit the animal in the jaw and it was really screaming then. A few shots later and it was finally dead. If you don't have it in you to shoot it properly, just drown it of call someone to take it away. I'm not bashing people for not wanting to kill the animals, just saying that if your going to do it you should do it right. I am on this thread at 4am because I have a huge Raccoon in the trap right now and haven't decided what i'm going to do with it in the morning. I'm new to Georgia so might call and ask about relocating it. I'm very rural with large forests around me so this will probably be a regular thing now that i'm getting back into chickens.

 

[RonP]

Raccoons are territorial.
If you happen to relocate it to another's territory, a fight will occur.
Talk about slow painful death...
Much more humane to properly dispatch it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Raccoons are territorial.
If you happen to relocate it to another's territory, a fight will occur.
Talk about slow painful death...
Much more humane to properly dispatch it.

I realize that this thread is almost 4 years old but I wish to remind everyone that it is against the law in all 50 states to release a live raccoon anywhere except on or at the very sight that you trapped it. The reason is it is proving hard to eliminate rabies in the wild coon population as long as good meaning but uninformed people shuffle coons around like a Vegas dealer shuffles cards. As for myself I don't want to be responsible for a child getting bit by a rabid coon or from other wildlife that contracted rabies from a coon that I released biting a human. If you can live with that guilt then more power to you so go ahead and knock yourself out.

If you go to the trouble and expense to trap a coon then by all means kill all the coons that you trap. Not doing so is tantamount to going to the work and expense of building coops, fences, and carrying for your hens and then buying all your eggs at the Safe Way or at the Piggly Wiggly store.